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SEGA rarity A.B. Cop now playable at Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL

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Released around 1989, A.B. Cop (Air Bike Cop) is a Sega X Board rarity that few know about and even fewer have played. A super scaler game, like After Burner and Thunder Blade (also Sega X Board titles), A.B. Cop was jointly developed by Aicom and SEGA. In the game, you control an air bike cop who is out to arrest criminals by crashing into their vehicles, thus disabling them. The game is played on a sweet dedicated cabinet in which you perch yourself on a seat and use handlebar controls to move left and right, a button to jump and a lever to accelerate.

Sounds great, right? Want to play it? Well Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, IL just added the game to their arcade floor in a lovely dedicated cabinet! Revealed as their Monday Mystery Game via live stream, A.B. Cop came to the arcade direct from Japan. You can hear the story of how they acquired it and check out some gameplay footage on the stream. I plan to check the game out this weekend, and if you want to give A.B. Cop and 600+ more games a spin head to Galloping Ghost Arcade for yourself!

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Sonic Mania Plus infomercial is a retro flashback to a classic Sonic commercial

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SEGA has released a great Sonic Mania Plus infomercial which itself is a throwback to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog commercial featuring a sleazy salesman trying to upsell a customer on the competition. The original ad featured the SNES and Super Mario World going up against Sonic the Hedgehog and a SEGA Genesis, which was $50 cheaper. In the case of the new ad, a $60 first person shooter is going up against the $30 Sonic Mania Plus.

There are a lot of funny moments including the FPS graphics featuring finger guns as weapons, the customer – played by Aaron Webber – getting dizzy from the holographic box art, and the salesman – played by actor/comedian/dancer Nathan Barnatt (aka Keith Apicary) hanging up from a phone call in the same way the original ad began. A big thumbs up to SEGA for producing this!

You can order the game today for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One via Amazon, and in turn support the site. Sonic Mania Plus releases tomorrow!

After the break, check out the original commercial.

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New Sonic the Hedgehog movie details revealed – filming location, possible title and logo

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Via Twitter user KyroDRX and the Sonic Stadium comes some new details about the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog movie from Paramount. A friend of KyroDRX received a notice for an upcoming filming on their streets of the movie. The scene will take place in a residential area and will feature a car pulling up to a house, scenes will then take place inside the house. The scenes will be taking place during the day and night, so it is possible that this is a home of a main character and will be featured at various points throughout the movie.

There will be no action or special effects scenes films, only atmospheric smoke will be used. The home address given is a lovely little home just off of an inlet from the Pacific Ocean and the area has a very “Californian” vibe. You can see the home after the break.

Also worth noting is that the movie logo and title might be revealed in the image above. The title is a simple “SONIC” in italics. If you want my graphic designer expert opinion, I don’t like it. Dropping “the Hedgehog” and using italics makes it read like Sonic Drive-In, and the addition of Sonic’s silhouette in the C looks clunky. Sonic already has a logo, so why not use that one?

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SDCC Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel promises surprise announcements

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The IDW comic book team will have a big Sonic the Hedgehog panel at San Diego Comic-Con which is being titled Sonic the Hedgehog’s Way Past Cool Panel. The panel is set to take place on July 19 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. Here is the panel description by Comic-Con 2018’s event page:

Sonic The Hedgehog has raced back into comics, bringing old enemies and new friends along for the ride. IDW editors Joe Hughes and David Mariotte, artist Evan Stanley, Sega licensing specialist Michael Cisneros, director of product development Austin Keys, and head of Sonic team Takashi Iizuka discuss comics and upcoming games, make some surprise announcements, and more!

I think its pretty interesting that Takashi Iizuka will be at the event and that they will be discussing upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog games and not only comics. Will the IDW Sonic the Hedgehog game announce a storyline to tie into the upcoming Team Sonic Racing? According to the tags there will also be ‘action figures’ and ‘toys’ at the event. Like always, if you miss the panel you can check back here and we will have a post with all the new announcements! See you on July 19th! What do you think the surprises will be?

[Via: Comic-Con event page]

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Sonic Mania Plus Review – Worthy of an Encore (PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

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When I reviewed 2017’s Sonic Mania, I praised it as being the best 2D Sonic game in decades. Now, a year later, SEGA is releasing a new version of the game dubbed Sonic Mania Plus. This definitive edition answers fan demand for a physical release while adding gameplay tweaks, expanded multiplayer, a new mode and two additional playable characters. Typically a reviewer would take this moment to pose the question: “So does Sonic Mania stand up one year later and are the new additions worthy of a double dip or DLC download?”, but I’ll just let you know right now that the answers are “yes” and “yes”. Sonic Mania Plus is everything that made the original Sonic Mania great, and more.

If you’d like to read our initial review, click here. Everything said there applies here. After the break, read about the new additions and enhancements, as well as the contents of the physical release.

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Going to Evo? Enter the Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown side tournament!

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If you are going to attend EVO 2018 and where looking for some Virtua Fighter action, you’re in luck. Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown will have a side tournament at EVO 2018 and you can sign up here if you want to enter. Registration to sign up closes in a week, so don’t wait.

Console: Xbox 360
Where: Evo 2018, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas USA.
When: Friday August 3, 10AM
Entry Fee: $5 (Plus Evo 2018 Event Registration ($60).)

Here are the rules:

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Sonic collaborating with Sou Sou to release traditional Japanese tabi socks

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You thought the Sonic collaboration with Puma was great? You haven’t seen the half of it, as Sou Sou has just announced their latest collaboration with the blue blur will be… a pair of old fashioned Japanese socks?

That is right, Sonic x Sou Sou will be releasing Sonic themed Tabi style socks, which are a traditional Japanese style ‘sock’ dating back to the 15th century. You can tell they are Tabi style because of how the big toe is separated, this was done so it could be worn with a zori or geta sandals.

These Sonic the Hedgehog tabi style socks aren’t just made by Sou Sou, they teamed up with collaboration with Ritsumeikan University following the the concept of “promoting a university’s idea using Sonic the Hedgehog“. The higher priced Sonic the Hedgehog tabi socks also feature soles and can be worn with shoes. The premium Sonic tabi socks will cost you 8,000 yen (about $71 USD) plus tax, a bit pricey for socks that aren’t guaranteed to make you go fast. The standard sock without the soles run you only 550 yen (about $4.89 USD) plus tax! Pre-orders go live on July 19, 2018!

[Via: Siliconera]

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Read-Only Memory announces SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History book – Kickstarter launches today

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Our friends at Read-Only Memory, who published the excellent Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Collected Works and is hard at work on the upcoming Sega Dreamcast: Collected Works, have announced a new SEGA focused book with a very different spin. SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History will be a large format, high production book of pop-up sculptures of SEGA’s greatest arcade cabinets. The deluxe arcade cabinets include: Hang-On, Space Harrier, Thunder Blade, After Burner, and Out Run. The Holy Quincunx as I call them (I had to Google “trinity but for 5”).

Each pop-up model in this officially licensed book will be accompanied by schematics, game artwork and historical context from by Guardian games writer Keith Stuart – plus everyone who backs the project during the Kickstarter campaign will receive an exclusive limited version, sporting a silver foil, deep embossed cover design.

Read-Only Memory have proven time and time again that they produce the best quality video game history and art and design books, and we urge readers to show their latest project their support. You can learn more about the upcoming book on their Kickstarter campaign page. We will continue to share news about SEGA Arcade: Pop-Up History as we hear it.

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Yakuza Producer says Nintendo Switch isn’t an ideal platform for the series, considering Xbox One

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It looks like Yakuza Producer Daisuke Sato is going to ruffle some feathers today, in a new interview with Gameblog.fr he was asked some really great questions. One of those questions was about the possibility of the Yakuza series coming to another console outside of the PlayStation, which he replied:

“To be realistic about what happened, Yakuza 1&2 HD for Wii U was a huge failure. But we are always looking to develop for multiple platforms as much as possible and know that brings in a greater audience to attract more people. However, as far as Switch is concerned, I’m convinced that it isn’t the ideal platform on which to develop Yakuza games. Maybe people don’t expect this kind of game on Switch. Maybe they’re used to different games. It may not be the ideal platform. As for Xbox One, we can consider it, knowing that Xbox One users may be more likely to be interested in a game like Yakuza. This could potentially be an option.”

Personally think Daisuke Sato is wrong on a few levels. While Yakuza 1&2 HD did bomb on the Wii U, it was only released in Japan. Not only that, it does feel like the Nintendo Switch has a much wider audience that are buying more games (and ports) in mass. This also doesn’t take into account how much more popular Yakuza is world wide than it was back in 2015, especially after the release of Yakuza 0.

He also talks about the possibilities of Binary Domain 2, seeing Kazuma Kiryu again and Yakuza 0-2.

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SEGA promotes Border Break with a 1:1 plastic model kit

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The AM2 arcade game Border Break is hitting Japanese PlayStation 4 consoles on August 2nd, and to promote the upcoming release SEGA is doing something really big. Teaming with plastic model company Kotobukiya, SEGA is assembling a 1:1 plastic model kit of a mech from the game. The pieces come complete in runners (those plastic tubes that you cut the model pieces out from) and were on display at Shinjuku Station in Tokyo. Since July 8th, the pieces have left the station and the word is that the model will be assembled though a day and location has yet to be revealed. When we learn more, we will be be sure to share!

No word yet on a western release for the game, but our fingers are crossed. I mean, it’s AM2! Come on, SEGA!

[Source: Digital Trends]

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House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn to appear at all Dave & Busters locations this fall

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Via Arcade Heroes comes news that Dave & Busters have purchased House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn units for all of their arcades nationwide. The plan is to have the game up and running at all locations in time for Halloween 2018. The units should be shipping end of September to early October. This is according to Dave & Buster’s Senior VP, Kevin Bachus on Reddit. Kevin also states that it is the best by far in the franchise. Meanwhile over in Japan, SEGA has released another location test version at the High-Tech Land SEGA Shibuya with more changes made. You can check out location test details over at The Website of the Dead.

This is great news for fans who wanted to play the game but thought it would be tricky to find a machine, seeing as Dave & Busters have locations in 38 states as well as Canada and Puerto Rico. If a Dave & Busters isn’t near you, fear not as SEGA Amusements are selling units to other chains. If an arcade chain is near you, maybe give them a call and request some Scarlet Dawn!

[Source: Arcade Heroes]

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SEGA News Bits: IDW Sonic the Hedgehog #5 & #6 Discussion

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On our last IDW Sonic video, we asked if you wanted more and you did! So here it is, our SEGA News Bits discussion of IDW Sonic the Hedgehog issues 5 and 6. We’ll be covering these as arcs moving forward, and on this episode we’re taking a look at “The Fate of Dr. Eggman”. How is the writing and art, and what’s the big twist? Click play to find out!

If you want to support this type of content, you can check out our Patreon!

If you enjoy our SEGA News Bits segments and want to support us: Give us a sub and give this video a thumbs up so it shows up on more like-minded fans YouTube recommendations. You know, how that YouTube algorithm is.

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Attention SEGA Master System fans: Funimation licenses 1987 anime Zillion – home video release coming in October

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Good news, Master System fans! Funimation has licensed the 80s anime Zillion! Zillion is a 1987 sci-fi anime from Tatsunoku Productions than ran for 31 episodes. It centers around White Knight J.J. and his fellow White Knights Apple and Champ as they defend the earth colony Maris from the evil Nozas, an alien race intent on wiping humans off the face of the planet. The White Knights battle the forces of evil with their signature weapon, the Zillion Weapon System, a Master System light gun (complete with the cord) capable of destroying the Nozas, who are otherwise invulnerable to human weaponry.

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Valve leaks player counts for Steam games, how are SEGA games doing?

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Earlier today, Valve accidentally leaked player counts for all the games on their store. I can hear all the publishers gasping at once. So how are SEGA games actually doing on Steam? Well as expected PC centeric games like Company of Heroes 2, Empire: Total War and Total War: Rome II top the list. The first sign of ‘SEGA Japan’ on here starts at number 8 with SEGA Genesis Classics pulling in 1,514,485 players.

On the other hand the most popular Sonic the Hedgehog title being confirmed as Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed which had 1,232,451 users, the second best Sonic game is Sonic Adventure 2 with 416,851 users. Sonic Forces didn’t seem to get much traction on PC with only 34,165 players as of the leak, getting beaten by the underrated Puyo Puyo Tetris with 47,388 players. Virtua Sanus over at ResetERA has listed all the number for SEGA games.

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Yakuza: Kiwami 2 demo goes live on Western PSN Stores

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SEGA has just launched its 10.01 gigabyte demo (better than Yakuza 6‘s 36GB demo) for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, which can be downloaded on both America and European PSN stores.

The demo lets you play as our baby boy Kazuma Kiryu, where we can explore the city and retrace the steps of The Grand, Goro Majima’s old place and aid people in their daily struggles. So typical Yakuza-ism. The demo also allows you to try play spots such as darts, karaoke, golf and more.

SEGA has also put up digital pre-orders for Yakuza: Kiwami 2, if you pre-order early you get to unlock an exclusive PlayStation 4 theme. There is also a ‘Special digital edition’ that is available for a limited time that comes with a special item pack that contains a Demonfire Blade weapon, Hostess Ono Michiyo, Sotaro Komaki R Clan Card, Jo Amon R Clan Card, The Comedian suit outfit, and 1 million yen to spend. You can pick up Yakuza: Kiwami 2 on PlayStation 4 this upcoming August 28!

[Via: Gematsu]

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